{
 "slug": "france-thundart-flp-t-himars-safran-mbda-sovereign-deep-strike-lru-successor-itar-free",
 "title": "France Picks the Safran–MBDA Thundart Over HIMARS for Sovereign Deep Strike",
 "url": "https://www.grosswald.org/france-thundart-flp-t-himars-safran-mbda-sovereign-deep-strike-lru-successor-itar-free/",
 "canonical": "https://www.grosswald.org/france-thundart-flp-t-himars-safran-mbda-sovereign-deep-strike-lru-successor-itar-free/",
 "type": "dispatch",
 "published": "2026-06-15T17:21:00.000+02:00",
 "updated": "2026-07-29T18:53:31.000+02:00",
 "excerpt": "\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nParis, 15 June 2026\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKey points\n\n\n * On Eurosatory’s opening day, 15 June, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin announced France had entered exclusive negotiations with a Safran–MBDA grouping to supply the successor to the Army’s LRU rocket artillery\n * The decision hands the consortium’s Thundart its win in the Frappe Longue Portée Terrestre competition over a rival ArianeGroup–Thales bid\n * Thundart is a 227mm guided rocket compatible with existing LRU launchers, with a",
 "countries": [],
 "domains": [
  "industry"
 ],
 "capabilities": [
  "strike-long-range-fires"
 ],
 "tags": [
  "defense-industry",
  "stk-strike-long-range-fires"
 ],
 "sources": [],
 "entities": [
  "france",
  "lockheed-martin",
  "mbda",
  "thales",
  "ukraine"
 ],
 "inferred": {
  "countries": [
   "france",
   "ukraine"
  ],
  "domains": [
   "industry"
  ],
  "capabilities": []
 }
}